Reducing end thiol-modified nanocellulose: Bottom-up enzymatic synthesis and use for templated assembly of silver nanoparticles into biocidal composite material

Nanoparticle-polymer composites are important functional materials but structural control of their assembly is challenging. Owing to its crystalline internal structure and tunable nanoscale morphology, cellulose is promising polymer scaffold for templating such composite materials. Here, we show bottom-up synthesis of reducing end thiol-modified cellulose chains by iterative bi-enzymatic β-1,4-glycosylation of 1-thio-β-d-glucose (10 mM), to a degree of polymerization of ∼8 and in a yield of ∼41% on the donor substrate (α-d-glucose 1-phosphate, 100 mM). Synthetic cellulose oligomers self-assemble into highly ordered crystalline (cellulose allomorph II) material showing long (micrometers) and thin nanosheet-like morphologies, with thickness of 5-7 nm. Silver nanoparticles were attached selectively and well dispersed on the surface of the thiol-modified cellulose, in excellent yield (≥ 95%) and high loading efficiency (∼2.2 g silver/g thiol-cellulose). Examined against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, surface-patterned nanoparticles show excellent biocidal activity. Bottom-up approach by chemical design to a functional cellulose nanocomposite is presented. Synthetic thiol-containing nanocellulose can expand the scope of top-down produced cellulose materials.

Waste paper: An underutilized but promising source for nanocellulose mining

Nanocellulose has achieved an inimitable place and value in nano-materials research sector. Promising and exclusive physical, chemical and biological properties of nanocellulose make it an attractive and ideal material for various high end-user applications. Conventionally, the base material for nanocellulose i.e. cellulose is being extracted from various lignocellulosic raw materials (like wood, agro-industrial-residues, etc.) using pulping followed by bleaching sequences. As an alternate to lignocellulosic raw materials, waste paper also showed potential as a competent raw material due to its abundant availability and high cellulosic content (60-70%) with comparatively less hemicelluloses (10-20%) and lignin (5-10%) without any harsh treatments. The production yields of nanocellulose were reported to vary from 1.5% to 64% depending upon the waste papers and treatments given. The diameters of these nanocelluloses were reported in the range of 2-100 nm and crystallinity range around 54-95%. Thermal degradation of waste paper nanocellulose was varied from 187 °C to 371 °C. Although these properties are comparable with the nanocellulose obtained from lignocellulosic raw materials, yet waste paper is an underutilized source for nanocellulose preparation due to its ordinary fate of recycling, dumping and incineration. In the sight of necessity and possibility of waste paper utilization, this article reviews the outcomes of research carried out for preparation of nanocellulose using waste paper as a source of cellulose. There is a need of sincere investigation to convert this valuable waste to wealth i.e. waste papers to nanocellulose, which will be helpful in solid waste management to protect environment in economical way.

Ag-functionalized nanocrystalline cellulose for paper preservation and strengthening

Waste paper is an environmentally friendly source of cellulosic material. Here we propose a new treatment based on nanocrystalline cellulose (CNC) for paper preservation and consolidation. Suspensions of CNC were prepared by sulfuric acid hydrolysis using waste paper as cellulose source (CNC_WP) and compared with CNC from cotton linter (CNC_CL). Both CNCs were obtained with good yield, showing high crystallinity index and comparable morphology, as demonstrated by DLS-ELS, XRD, FTIR, Raman and TEM analyses. CNCs were mixed with silver nanoparticles (CNC/Ag) and their biocidal activity was tested against Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis, measuring the minimum inhibitory concentration. CNCs were exploited as treatments for biocidal activity and consolidation on Whatman paper. The presence of silver nanoparticles doesn't affect aesthetic appearance of the original paper and prevents the growth of Aspergillus niger fungus. Mechanical tests demonstrated that the coatings by CNC based products improve stretch and toughness of the paper support.

Bio-inspired consolidants derived from crystalline nanocellulose for decayed wood

Novel bio-inspired materials derived from crystalline nanocellulose (CNC) have been tested as wood consolidants. A suspension of CNC, produced by acid hydrolysis of cellulose and used as such or mixed with lignin and/or siloxane derivatives (PDMS), was applied on rotted wood samples of Norway spruce. X-Ray diffraction analysis on CNC powder showed high crystallinity index. Dynamic light scattering (DLS) measurement indicated a nearly uniform particle size distribution with an average hydrodynamic diameter for pure CNC smaller than that in the mixtures. Raman and FTIR spectroscopies suggested interactions between lignin, PDMS and CNC components. The storage modulus of wood samples, measured by Dynamic Mechanical Analysis on the same specimen before and after consolidation, confirmed the efficiency of pure CNC, which displayed a considerable improvement of stiffness. A substantial increase of E' was observed particularly for most decayed classes. These results suggest a closer interaction between nanocellulose and decayed wood.

Crystalline nanocellulose/lauric arginate complexes

As a novel sustainable nanomaterial, crystalline nanocellulose (CNC) possesses many unique characteristics for emerging applications in coatings, emulsions, paints, pharmaceutical formulations, and other aqueous composite systems where interactions with oppositely charged surfactants are commonly employed. Herein, the binding interactions between sulfated CNC and a novel biologically-derived cationic surfactant lauric arginate (LAE) were comprehensively examined. Ionic strength and solution pH are two crucial factors in determining the adsorption of LAE to the CNC surface. Three different driving forces were identified for CNC-LAE binding interactions. Additionally, it was found that the adsorption of LAE to the CNC surface could notably impact the surface potential, aggregation state, hydrophobicity and thermal stability of the CNC. This work provides insights on the binding interactions between oppositely charged CNC and surfactants, and highlights the significance of optimizing the concentration of surfactant required to ionically decorate CNC for its enhanced dispersion and compatibilization in non-polar polymer matrices.